Using this website

Privacy

This policy explains how and when Govt.nz collects personal information, what we do with it and your right to see or change it.

Purpose

The purpose of this privacy policy is to let users of Govt.nz (the 'site') know when we collect personal information and what we do with it.

We don't use, share or transfer personal information in connection with the site except as set out in this policy, or as otherwise set out somewhere on the site (including in terms linking to the site).

Collection, storage and use of personal information

No need to disclose personal information

You can use the site — including completing user research tasks — without disclosing any personal information.

Your disclosure of personal information

You may choose to disclose personal information to us when you give feedback or in submission forms. This information can be viewed by site administrators, certain Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) staff and sometimes third-party contractors who administer or work on the site, or who work on special projects with us.

Don't send us sensitive personal information or include any sensitive personal information in submission forms.

Holding of information

If you provide personal information, it is held by DIA. It may be shared with third-party contractors to the extent necessary for them to administer or work on the site, or to work on special projects with us. Email addresses are not made available to the public. Unless required by law, we won't publicise the names or email addresses of individuals who provide feedback to us or who provide us with submission forms without their consent.

Use of personal information

We'll only use personal information provided to us for the purpose of:

administering, evaluating and improving the site

improving our services, and

communicating with you, including responding to your feedback and information provided in submission forms.

Feedback

Feedback is important and is used to evaluate and improve the site. If you provide feedback by email or by using the feedback form, that feedback is sent to appropriate DIA staff. We may pass on relevant comments to other people within DIA who administer or contribute content to the site. This could include your email address and other identifying information that you've provided.

Also see information about your licence under which you provide feedback via Govt.nz.

Submission forms

If you provide us with a submission form, that submission form is sent to appropriate DIA staff. We may pass on relevant content from that submission form to other people within DIA, other government agencies or third parties who administer or are participating in the particular project or consultation that the submission form relates to. This could include your email address and other identifying information

Statistical information and cookies

Statistical information collected

We may collect statistical information about your visit to our website to help us improve it. This information does not identify individuals, and makes use of cookies. A cookie is a piece of code that creates a file on your computer to track the pages that you view on our website. We use Google Universal Analytics to collect and analyse details about the use of our website. You may turn off cookies at any time. Most browsers have a feature that allows the user to refuse cookies, or issues a warning when cookies are being sent. Turning off cookies will not affect your ability to use this site.

The information Google Analytics collects includes:

the first three parts of the IP address of the device

the pages accessed on our site and the links clicked on

the date and time the site was visited

the referring site (if any) through which you clicked through to this site

the operating system (for example, Windows 7 or Mac OSX) on the device used

the type of web browser used (for example, Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox)

other incidental information such as screen resolution and the language setting used.

Use of statistical information

The data is collected and stored on the Google server and is viewable by authorised staff as detailed in their privacy policy. We may share this information with other government agencies.

Cookies

This site generates persistent session cookies (that is, they have an expiry date and are removed on that date) for the purpose of monitoring site usage. The cookies don't collect personal information. You can disable them or clear them out of your web browser without affecting your ability to use the site.

Records and disclosure statement

Public records, official information and parliament

Your emails and contributions to the site may constitute public records and be retained to the extent required by the Public Records Act 2005. DIA may also need to disclose those materials under the Official Information Act 1982 or to a Parliamentary Select Committee or parliament in response to a parliamentary question.

Correcting your personal information

Your rights

Under the Privacy Act 1993, you have the right to access and ask us to correct any of your personal information provided to DIA in connection with your use of this site.

Contact us if:

you would like to see or change your personal information DIA has stored, or

you have any concerns regarding your privacy.

DIA may require proof of your identity before being able to provide you with any personal information.